<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Always a Paladin by fallingsnow6136</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29188929">Always a Paladin</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallingsnow6136/pseuds/fallingsnow6136'>fallingsnow6136</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Black Paladin Keith (Voltron), Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Choosing between friends, Evil Zarkon (Voltron), Gen, Post-Defeat of Zarkon, Post-Season/Series 04, Pre-Season/Series 05, Protective Keith (Voltron)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 03:24:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,508</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29188929</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallingsnow6136/pseuds/fallingsnow6136</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When a combined mission between the Blade of Marmora and Team Voltron goes awry due to Zarkon's obsession with the Black Lion, Keith must decide where his loyalties lie and make a choice between those important to him. What will he decide and will they get out of this alive?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Keith &amp; Black Lion (Voltron), Keith &amp; The Blade of Marmora, Keith &amp; Voltron Paladins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Always a Paladin</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshinehime/gifts">sunshinehime</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Ali &lt;3 From good friends and true, to old friends and new, may good luck go with you and happiness too. Happy Birthday, Ali! You have been a beautiful friend to me and have been here through my ups and downs. I wish you all the happiness in the world and everyone, this story is written for my very beautiful friend &lt;3 I love you and hope you enjoy. Thanks to another friend of mine who looked over this for me.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The mission had been going so well, much like all the other missions Lotor had guided them on, but this was not just a mission for Voltron – the Blade of Marmora was involved in this as well. Team Voltron was doing well and had managed to rescue the prisoners, putting them on an escape pod, which fired them out of there. </p>
<p>“We can leave now, right?” Lance said, not wanting the group to fight if they didn’t have to. His question was answered by a Blade of Marmora member being thrown against the wall. </p>
<p>“We can’t leave the Blades like this!” Allura called out to the other Paladins and Lance knew she was right. The Blades had done a lot for them in so many battles, after all. </p>
<p>“Go!” One of the Blade members said to them. “Voltron must survive if the universe stands any chance.”</p>
<p>“We refuse to abandon you,” Shiro said firmly. “Everyone, separate into lions so we can manoeouver around better and help more.”</p>
<p>“Got it!” The others said as Voltron split up into the lions and began to fight. Lance groaned as this caused more enemies to appear but continued up the fight.</p>
<p>“You must leave, Paladins,” Kolivan said firmly. “We can handle ourselves.” </p>
<p>“We said we’re not leaving,” Lance agreed with what Shiro and Allura had said earlier. “You’re our friends.”</p>
<p>“That loyalty will get you killed,” Kolivan’s voice turned rough, almost cutting as he managed to knock down one of the Galra. “Keith, talk some sense into them.” His calm, composed tone did not disappear despite how hard and cold it was.</p>
<p>Keith had managed to knock one of the smaller Galra, before hearing the conversation. He frowned as he turned to look at the other Paladins and sighed a little. He had been with Team Voltron long enough to know they were not going to listen to Kolivan about this.  “They’re not going to. They’re not the Blade of Marmora, they’re the Paladins of Voltron, they would never leave an ally behind.” He also agreed with them, but he would never say that in front of Kolivan because he knew the Blades worked differently to Voltron. He frowned however, as the enemies suddenly stopped attacking. What was that all about? His hair stood on end and he felt every bone in his body tense as the monster he believed to be dead appeared in front of them.</p>
<p>It couldn’t be! How could Zarkon be alive after all this time? They had killed him – he had been there, they had all been. From observing the other Paladin’s expressions as they fought, they had not known this either. How was he still alive?</p>
<p>“Quit going after the Blades,” Zarkon said firmly. “It would do in your best interests to go after Voltron. I want all the lions to be mine. Bring me Voltron.” </p>
<p>Keith tried to grab onto the Galra that he had been fighting as he changed course from him to the Paladins, but his smaller size compared to most of the Galra gave him a disadvantage. His heartbeat picked up, but he joined the Blades in helping to defend the Paladins. </p>
<p>“Zarkon just wants the Black Lion, maybe if we let him take it for now, we can have the Paladins lives’ be spared!” One of the Blade Members, Rak called out to him and Keith gritted his teeth.</p>
<p>“We’re not giving up Black!” Keith snapped, sounding almost feral but he couldn’t help it. He may not be the Black Paladin anymore, but he would never give her up to Zarkon of all people.</p>
<p>Who was he supposed to fight with? The Paladins were in more danger right now, but he was still a member of the Blades too – so where was he supposed to go? What was he supposed to do? He glanced back at Black – was she really okay with Zarkon being there? He had not told this to the other Paladins, but they still talked every now and again, but right now she was so eerily silent that it sent a chill down his spine. Black, are you okay? None of us are going to let anything happen to you. He grunted as he was sent flying back into the wall at his attempts to stop a Galra soldier. His mind was too distracted between both parties to be fully focused on the fight and Black not responding to him was not helping.</p>
<p>“Keith, go offer assistance to the Voltron Paladins,” Raloven said firmly. “You cannot focus on the situation if you are concerned with both parties, so assist those who are in a more dire situation right now. If Voltron is abducted, the entire galaxy will be in peril. We cannot afford this.”</p>
<p>Keith wanted to protest that all of them were important when he saw a body flying above his head and crashing against the wall. His heart began racing as he realised it was Pidge. He knew there was no easy decision to this as he ran forward, cradling her smaller form in his arms. </p>
<p>“Pidge!” Keith called out, resisting the urge to shake her. She was badly bruised, and her body was so cold. She wasn’t moving – could she really be dead? No, no! His heartbeat sped up, flinching as he saw more bodies flying and slamming against the wall. His eyes travelled to Lance passed out on the floor and to a pool of blood with Hunk lying in the middle of it.  Allura and Shiro were still fighting but that was the only reassurance he had right now. How long would it be before they were exhausted too? Maybe Kolivan was right, after all. Was it truly worth it? Staying back to help the Blade of Marmora at the risk of their own lives? He already knew the answer, but it didn’t make it any easier to accept the consequences that were happening. As if things were not bad enough, his heart caught in his throat when Zarkon stepped towards the Black Lion, who had been laying there because the Paladins had been fighting with their bayards instead of the lions.</p>
<p>“Shiro!” Keith called out, carefully laying Pidge back down. He knew it was risky to leave the other Paladins, but they had to work together if he was going to save his friends. It didn’t matter if he was a member of the Blades now, he would always be a Paladin and wanted to save his friends no matter how far he was from them. “We need to protect Black, together.”</p>
<p>Shiro knocked back a couple of the Galra soldiers, panting slightly when Keith called out to him and frowned as he saw Zarkon, making to move toward Black when a voice intruded his mind.</p>
<p>“You must stop,” Haggar’s voice resonated in his head. “You are not to do anything while Zarkon reclaims the Black Lion.”</p>
<p>Shiro tried to resist but he felt his body freeze in place as if someone had put him on hold and made him go still. Keith ran over to him, not sure what was going on, but his leg slid over to side, arms stretched out in a protective stance in front of both Shiro and the Black Lion. He had no idea what was going on, but like hell was he going to let any more of his precious people get hurt. </p>
<p>Zarkon looked at him as if he were an insolent child and Keith didn’t know why, but something about the look in his eye sent a chill down his spine but he didn’t move. He wasn’t going to let Zarkon get Black, no matter what happened.</p>
<p>“You should step out of the way,” Zarkon’s voice had a cold, hard edge to it. “Your friends are out of order and you’re outnumbered. Give me the Black Lion and I’ll heed to her request. She could put up her shield to me, you know but you should know, life is about give and take.”</p>
<p>Keith shook his head. “I’m not moving.” What had Black agreed to? Why had she agreed to whatever Zarkon was asking her? ‘Black, please. Please say something – anything. You’re my friend. I can’t lose you. What is Zarkon talking about? I’ll die before I let anything happen to you. Please. I’m not moving away from here, even if I end up like the rest of my friends’ At first, he couldn’t hear anything, but he heard a quiet voice speak all of a sudden causing Keith’s heart flood in relief. She was okay, well maybe not okay but at least she was </p>
<p>‘I’m sorry, Keith’ Black’s voice sounded subdued. ‘But it’s better me than it is the other lions and Paladins. If I become Zarkon’s again, I can convince him to spare them’</p>
<p>Keith shook his head. He looked around at the situation. He knew they had to move fast and make a quick decision.</p>
<p>“Allura!” Keith called out, catching her attention. “Take care of the other Paladins.” He understood where Black was coming from, but she was no longer alone. He wasn’t going to let her go with Zarkon by himself. He stepped back towards Zarkon. “Do you want Black, Zarkon? You’re going to have to catch us, first. You can’t get her if you’re focused on the others.” He looked up at Black. ‘Trust me, ok? I know you want to protect the others, but you don’t have to do it alone anymore. Let’s stop Zarkon together, ok?’ </p>
<p>Black seemed to understand this, and she opened her mouth to let Keith in as he hurried inside, taking the pilot seat. He knew this was taking a huge risk but if Black was what Zarkon wanted, he would have to deal with the both of them. He knew he couldn’t technically beat Zarkon, but he didn’t need to, as long as he could distract him long enough for Allura to heal the others and for them to form Voltron and get rid of the enemy. Hopefully, this would work.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Allura understood what Keith was trying to do and as reckless as it was, it did move the enemy’s attention from them to the Black Lion and Zarkon. She forced herself to stay awake – she needed to heal the others so they could help Keith. She moved the frozen Shiro out of harm’s way before moving to Pidge and Hunk as they were the most critical. It took nearly all of her energy to do that and it was all she could do to fight and not collapse, but she had to keep going. Just a little bit longer.</p>
<p>“Allura,” Pidge looked a little dazed as she opened her eyes. “What’s going on?”</p>
<p>“Did we fail?” Hunk said, sitting up, clutching at his head. </p>
<p>Allura shook her head. “Not yet, but we need to keep going. Keith and Black are distracting Zarkon, but I don’t know how much longer they can hold up. Can you two pilot your lions?” </p>
<p>Hunk and Pidge nodded.</p>
<p>“I think we can manage,” Pidge said firmly. “Only Voltron can get us out of this situation, after all.”</p>
<p>“Let’s do it,” Hunk said, moving over to pick up Shiro. “I’ll take Shiro with me.”</p>
<p>“I have Lance,” Allura assured them, moving over to heal Lance as well. They had to get to Keith. He was risking himself to protect all of them right now. Luckily, Lance was quicker to heal than Hunk or Pidge had been. </p>
<p>Lance groaned slightly as he slowly came to and look around. “We got our butts kicked, didn’t we?”</p>
<p>Allura chuckled a bit. “I wouldn’t put it quite as crudely as that, but the situation is a little bit complicated. Shiro does not seem to be responding and Keith has taken Black to distract the Galra’s attention from us, but we are going to need Voltron if we hope to drive the Galra away. Keith may not be able to hold Zarkon off for too long.”</p>
<p>“Did Lotor send us here on purpose?” Lance grumbled, annoyed. “We could have gotten killed.”</p>
<p>Allura shook her head. “We do not have time to dwell on that. We need to reach Keith and the Black Lion. Are you alright enough to pilot Red?”</p>
<p>“I should be asking you that, Princess,” Lance said seriously. “You healed all of us, you must be exhausted by now.”</p>
<p>Allura shook her head. “I cannot afford to be exhausted until this battle is over.” She left Lance, hurrying over to the Blue Lion. She focused on her bond with the lion to keep her strength up. We have to stop Zarkon, once and for all. I have to hang on a little longer.<br/>**<br/>Keith knew this plan was risky, but he would never let Zarkon get his hands on his lion, no matter what happened. This was his friend whether they were partners right now or not. Still, he could feel Black beginning to get worn out and he was still tired from the fight too. But all they had to do was hold on a little longer. His grip tightened on the controls slightly, exhaling and managing to move out of the way of Zarkon’s oncoming attack although it did hit Black in the side. He groaned. Zarkon had definitely gotten more powerful – he wasn’t sure if Black could take another hit like that. His gaze sharpened as he focused on the bond shared between the two of them.</p>
<p>Help me, guide me, help me protect us, our friends, each other. Keith felt a strong surge of power build up inside of him and he managed to move faster to dodge the attacks.</p>
<p>Zarkon snarled. “Black! You belong to me! I was willing to give you the chance to spare your friends and fellow Paladins, but now I will reclaim all of Voltron.”</p>
<p>“You sure about that?” Lance’s fierce voice came as he knocked back Zarkon with Red’s amazing speed. “You ok Keith?”</p>
<p>“You had really good timing, man,” Hunk said moving in closer with Yellow. “You saved us all.”</p>
<p>Keith smiled a bit. “You guys, are you all okay? Shiro? Pidge?!? Are you…”? She had been so cold back then; he had thought for a moment that he had lost her because he hadn’t been fast enough to save her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to leave you like that but Black and Shiro were in danger, you were so hurt…”</p>
<p>“I’m fine, Keith,” Pidge said quickly. “Allura healed me but whatever we’re going to do, we better do it fast.”</p>
<p>“Shiro’s alright too,” Hunk added. “But yeah, Pidge has a point, we are surrounded.”</p>
<p>Keith focused his attention on all the Galra fleets that had begun appearing. They were all together so there was only one way they were going to be able to save themselves and save the Blades as well. “There’s only one thing we can do. Everyone, on me! Let’s form Voltron!” As long as they were together, they could beat Zarkon always.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>